The Toronto Blue Jays are looking to sign Kyle Tucker and have reportedly made an offer.
Toronto has been pursuing Tucker as the team is looking to add an impact bat. The Blue Jays hosted Tucker on a visit earlier this month, and the team reportedly has an offer out to him.
Not only does Toronto have an offer out to Tucker, but MLB insider Buster Olney believes it’s the most money Tucker will be offered all offseason.
“Based on the conversations I’ve had with teams and with agents, I think that the Blue Jays have the most money offered to Kyle Tucker,” Olney said on First Up on TSN on Friday. “Or they’ve indicated that. Teams and the agents will play semantics and say, well, we never formally made an offer. Well, they’ve made an overture to where they said we’re thinking in this range. And Tucker’s camp might be saying, well, we’re thinking in this range.”
Even if another team does beat Toronto’s current offer, Olney expects the Blue Jays to go over the top to have the most money offered to Tucker.
“I think the Blue Jays, by the end of the winter, whether or not Tucker signs there, will have made the highest volume offer for him. The most amount of money,” he said.
By having the most money offered to Tucker, it puts the Blue Jays in a good position to sign the star hitter.
Olney’s report that Toronto has the most money offered for Tucker comes after the Blue Jays were named as the favorites to sign him.
MLB insider Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported on Thursday that the Blue Jays were the favorites to sign Tucker.
“The consensus No. 1 free agent of the offseason has had a relatively quiet market to this point. With his visit with the Blue Jays last month at their spring facility in Florida representing the biggest news of his winter,” Feinsand wrote.
“Toronto remains the favorite to land Tucker, sources said. Though the Mets can’t be counted out. Given their need for outfield help and their general willingness to spend big when they feel it’s appropriate.”
Toronto being able to land Tucker would be a major boost to the offense. The slugger would be able to hit right before or after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. That would make the Blue Jays’ offense that much more dangerous.
The Blue Jays have been aggressive this offseason as the team has focused on shoring up its pitching staff.
Yet, Toronto has checked in on the top bats available and even had Tucker on a visit. Blue Jays manager John Schneider said the meeting was productive. The sides got to learn a lot about each other.
“We sat upstairs for about an hour, an hour-and-a-half. Talked through kind of where the organization is, where the organization is heading. Both from a team, roster-building standpoint, from an ownership standpoint, and he talked baseball,” said Schneider to Sportsnet.
“It was pretty cool. … “It was very productive. Again, great, great player. And it’s not a surprise his skillset fits exactly what we’re doing. So, we’ll see where the next couple of weeks lead.”
Tucker is a four-time All-Star and one of the top hitters in all of baseball.
